Right to the Truth

A/RES/68/165View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 69b Human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, published in 2013.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2008–2014

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2014	A/RES/68/165	Right to the truth	1,562	37%Compare
2012	A/HRC/RES/21/7	Right to the truth	1,664	73%Compare
2009	A/HRC/RES/12/12	Right to the truth	1,517	70%Compare
2008	A/HRC/RES/9/11	Right to the truth	1,177	–

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Programme 20	Human rights	433

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Programme 20	Human rights	433	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 subjects

Archives Criminal Investigation Disappearance of Persons Human Rights Violations International Organizations Right to the Truth Technical Cooperation Truth Commissions

What’s in this document?

14 operative paragraphs

Recognizes the importance of respecting and ensuring the right to the truth so as to contribute to ending impunity and to promote and protect human rights;

Welcomes the establishment in several States of specific judicial mechanisms and non-judicial mechanisms, such as truth and reconciliation commissions, that complement the justice system, to investigate violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and appreciates the elaboration and publication of the reports and decisions of these bodies;

Encourages the States concerned to disseminate, implement and monitor the implementation of the recommendations of non-judicial mechanisms, such as truth and reconciliation commissions, and to provide information regarding compliance with the decisions of judicial mechanisms;

Encourages other States to consider establishing specific judicial mechanisms and, where appropriate, truth and reconciliation commissions to complement the justice system to investigate and address gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law;

Encourages States and international organizations to provide requesting States with necessary and appropriate assistance regarding the right to the truth by means of, among other actions, technical cooperation and the exchange of information concerning administrative, legislative and judicial and non-judicial measures, as well as experiences and best practices that have as a purpose the protection, promotion and implementation of this right, including practices regarding the protection of witnesses and the preservation and management of archives;

Also encourages States and international organizations to acknowledge the important role of civil society in monitoring the implementation of recommendations of truth commissions, and encourages donors to make the training, support and strengthening of civil society organizations a priority within a comprehensive transitional justice approach;

Urges all States that have not done so to consider signing, ratifying or acceding to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance;

Calls upon States to work in cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence in accordance with his mandate, including by extending invitations to the Special Rapporteur;

Welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-fourth session on selected challenges faced by truth commissions in transitional periods,¹⁷ and takes note of the recommendations contained in the report;

¹⁷A/HRC/24/42.

Encourages States that have not yet done so to establish a national archival policy that ensures that all archives pertaining to human rights are preserved and protected and to enact legislation that declares that the documentary heritage of the nation is to be retained and preserved and that creates a framework for managing State records from their creation to their destruction or preservation, and takes note in this regard of ongoing efforts by the Human Rights Council, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, regional organizations and other stakeholders to systematize existing standards in the area of access to information, the protection and preservation of records and the management of archives;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to invite, from within existing resources, Member States, United Nations organs, intergovernmental organizations, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations to provide information on good practices in the establishment, preservation and provision of access to national archives on human rights, and to make the information received publicly available in an online database;

Invites special procedures and other mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, within the framework of their mandates, to take into account, as appropriate, the issue of the right to the truth;

Encourages United Nations agencies, Member States and civil society organizations to exchange experiences and good practices on the subject of the right to the truth, with a view to improving the effectiveness of relevant mechanisms and procedures empowered to seek information, assert facts and effectively reveal the truth about what has happened in the aftermath of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law;

Requests the Secretary-General to organize an event in observance of the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, subject to availability of resources, in order to exchange experiences and good practices on the subject of the right to the truth, with the participation of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents

Who cites this mandate in the budget?